Process for refining oils.



W. M. `PARKER.

PROCESS FOR REFINING OILS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4. 191e.

W. M. PARKER.

' PROCESS FOR. REFINING OILS. 1,226,990. APPLICATION FILED APR. 4. 191e. Patented May 22 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' To all whom t may concern:

WILLIAM mi. ramzEn, or OKLAHOMA,

XLAH`0MA,AS`SIGNOR, lBY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

' Be it known that "I, WILLIAM f a citizen of the United States, residing at Oklahoma City in, the county of Oklahoma and State of Ok essesfor Refining Oil, of which the. followfor refining oil which will be substantially l by whic ing is a specification.

This invention relates to a process of reining oils and more particularly to a process of refining or treatingcrude petroleum or oil distillates for the purpose of obtaining one or more lighter oils` therefrom. y

One of the objects of the present inventionis to provide la simple andpractical process continuousin its operation. Another object is to provide an eihcient and ,inexpensive process of treating or' refining crude oil which will divide the oil into lighter oils of more uniform quality." and of larger per-l centage in quantity than are obtained byl processes now in eneraluse. Other objects w1ll be in part obvious from the annexeddrawings'and in part indicated in connection therewith byV the following analysis. ofl this invention.

This invention accordingly consists in the several'steps and the relation of each step to each of the several others, both individually and in combination, all as more completely outlined herein.

To enable others lskilled in the art so fully to comprehend the underlying features thereof thatthey ma embody the same by the numerous modi cations and relations contemplated by this invention,'. drawings depictin a preferred form of the apparatus the process may be carried out have been annexed as a part of' this disclosure, and in such drawings A Figure 1 illustrates diagrammatically the first half of an' apparatus which may be used in carrying out the present process;

Fig. 1 'is a slmilar view showing the last half of the sameapparatus;

Fig@ is an enlarged view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 and,

Fig. 3 an enlarged view of the injector for ,theinjection of superheated steam into the oil conduit. t

-ln order that a clearerI perception of the resent invention maybe had and the ob l'jects sought to be obtained thereby, it may v Specification of Letters Patent. Applicatiml led API'14, 1916. Serial NQ. 88,922..

M. PARKER,-

'i pressures lahoma,`have invented cer t paratus at a relatlvely lugh rate of speed tainnew and useful Improvements in Procperature 'of about rnocn'ss Foa BEFINING ons.

Patented May 2,2, 1917.

be stated in brief that the present process breaks down the heavier oils into one or more lighter "oils byfsubjecting said heavy oils to a series of high temperatures and and passing them. through the aptional distillation methods.

Referring now to the drawings lin which,

the apparatus is shown diagrammatically, there is provided a main supply tank 5 having an outlet'to which is connected a pump G adapted to force the crude oilI into a fur- 'nace or retort 7. This retort is provided at one side with a heating coil 8 of `relatively small -diameter piping and comparatively great length, preferably of one inch diamster and one hundred and fifty feet in length, through which the crude oil is rapidly forced by the pump 6 and exposed'to a tem- F. from `whence it passes under approximately 100 y* pounds pressure to a jacketed heater 10 which is maintained at a temperature of about *800o to 900 F. by means of superheated'steam produced by coils 11 within the retort '7. It is to be noted that prior to the entrance 'ofn the oil from the coil 8 to the jacketed heater 10a small part, approximately 10%, of superheated steam 1s 1njected into the oil conduit at the injector 12 which materially aids in increasing the temperature to the desired point as 1t 'passes through the jacket.

After leaving the jacketed heater'lO the oil is passed through an provided with'a spiral or helix 1,4 adapted to give the oil awhirling centrifugal and retilinear movement. In other words, the oil which is really in the form of a vapor, due to the high pressure and temperature to which it is subjected, is forced to circulate or rotate v e'ry rapidly and as-it is traveling atv the rate of approximately 100 feet per second, the heavier parts of the vapor are expansion drum 13v forced outwardly from the center of vtheconveyer and exposed to the hottest-temperature within the retort 7. The gas or 1 lighter parts of the vapor stay nearer the helix `and eonsec breaking of the 011 V center of the screw' or quently a morefunlform i I as Ait passes through the member 13 w111 re centage of light sult, thus making a very much larger pergas from raw oils than if said oilswere simply passed through pipes or heated ina still. From the expansion drumv 13 the fluid mass passes te a pressure drum 15vwhere all carbonand deposits are allowed tol settle before the fluid continues to a cooler 16 where the temperature is reduced to approximately 300 F. y After leaving the coil within the cooler the 91.1,' gas and vaporobtained from the original oil passes to a separator 17 which is heated by superheated steam entering through the pipe 18 connected with the upper end of the steam jacket 10. At thisA point the temperature is raised to approximately 350 F. and all oil thatwill vaporize l at this temperature passes through a 'pipe porary yinto a steam 20 to' a condensing coil 21l maintained at a temperature of approximately 350 F. All o f the'oil that will not vaporize'- at this higher temperature is" pumped from the separator 1 through pipe -22 by means of pump 23 back to the ltank 5 where it is again forced through these steps of the process. The oil',or benzin as it now may be called, is delivered from-the condenser 21 to a temtank 24, thence forced rapidly through a steam jacketed heater, 25, Fig. 1, by means of Steam pump 26,V then through a second steam jacketed heater 27 still 28 maintained ata temperature of lapproximately 345 F. by means of steam admitted'thereto by pipe 30 which -oil vaporizin j still to a condenser 32 and thence into storage tank 33.

l it may be drawn oliv and connectswith the pipe 31 :leading from the superheater coils within the retort 7. All

at 345.F. passes from. this y residue remaining in the still 28 is drawn olf by means of pumpl 34 anddelivered to tank 35 from which point passedthrou h the 'first or second steps again, as desire Itis of course to be understood that the apparatus which is shown largely diagram t matic is provided with the necessary valves, pyroineters, controlling and power means as ma be nessary. to eectiv y and continuous y carry on the process; for instance the."

pumps may be' economically driven by steam from the system shown.

From the above description, it will be seenv that the process relates largely to a method of breaking down the heavy oils into lighter` ones by sub' Acting the oils to a relatively high tempe ature and pressur'e as well as to a. centrifugal motion while` moving at a high rate of speed. The heavy oils are first put Ythrough a superheater and heated to the lva' orizing point and thence conducted` to a elicall drum or conveyer within the furnace or retort where they are exposed to a much higher temperature accordingto the vaporizingk point of the raw .As it' 'passes through ,the drum as lency ing ing above explained the heavier portions are forced by the centrifugal action to the outer surface of the drum, where they are sub- Jected. to the highest temperature.n If all of the 'oil were simply passed through a series of "pipes or heated in a'still, it would v results, and only such parts .of the oil that will stand the heat are subjected to high temperatures.

The present invention is therefore bclieved to be simple and practical in operation, reliable and highly efficient in use and inexpensive to carrygout. In fact, the in.=

vention is believed tov accomplish, among others, all of the objects and possess all the advantages herein set forth. y

Without 'further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal `the gist of this invention that others can. by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for` various ap` plications without omitting certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art,A

fairly constitute *essential -characteristics of the generic or specific aspects' of this in-A vention, and therefore such adaptations should andare intended to be comprehend ed within the meaning and rangeof, equiva-l of the following claims.

li claim:

Theherein described method of wtreat- 10) at a temperature of approximately F. and simultaneously causing saidA` ing oil whichpincludes the step of Vaporizing oi 10oo oil to traverse a helical path at the rate of not less .than approximately 100feet a second.

2. The herein described method ofK treating oil which consists in the 'steps of heating the oil to approximately 400 F., mixing the same with aj small per; cent. of steam at high pressure and subseqiiently exposing the mixture to a temperature in the neigh'- borhood of 1000" F. while being simultaneously subjected to a whirling and rectilinear .movement at a rate of speed not less than approximately one hundred feet per second. 3. The herein described method of treating the same with' a small per cent. of steam, exposin the mixture to a tempera'' ture in the neighborhood ofc1000 F. and simultaneously subjecting the mixture to a rotative rectilinear movement under high pressure whereby the mixture travels through a helical rectilinear path at not less than approximately feet a second.

1i. The'herein described method of .treat-V -oil which consists in lthe steps of' heat.- tli'e oil to approximately 400 F., mix.

'ing oil which consists in the steps of forcunder relatively high` pressure rapidly through a coil heated to approximately 400 F., subsequently increasing the teinpcrature of the oil to. approximately`l1000 F. and while' still under great pressure,

the oil and simultaneously forcing the oil vapor ina helical rectilinear path at not less' .than approximately 1,00 feet v.a second, al-

. to are-heatingat a loWing'the oil vapor to cool and settle prior Y able, and non-volatllizable oils are separated.

approximately 1 through ,a helical dred feet per. second, allowing the `oil va high pressure vand 6. The herein heating the oil to 400 F., mixing the oil withV a small per cent. of steam, giving the mixture a helical rectilinear movement under at a speed not less than hundred feet per second drum heated to about 1000 F., conducting the vapors toV ancondenser,

approximately one f and-subsequently conducting the 'non-vaporizing 4oil back to the starting point.

7. The herein described method ofl treating oil which consists in heating the oil toa vaporizing Ltemperature while simultaneously being subjected to a helical movement undergreatpressure and at a speed not less than approximately one hunorized at a' definite temperature to pass into a condenser,

. heating them to approximately 345 F. in

a still which permits the volatilized oils to temperature' of approxi- 'mately 350 F., atwhich point the volatilizdescribed method of treat-l ing oil which consists in rectilinear conducting the non-vapor ized oils back to the starting point, collecting the vcondensed vaporized oils and revolatilized oils t bev conducted to a point for rep-treatment. i 8. The herein described method. of treating oil which consists in passing the oil through a coil within a retort heated to approximately 400' F., ,mixing the heated 011 with approximately 10% of superheated steam 'at'4 approximately 100 pounds pressure,- heating said mixture to a point above 1000o F. subsequently subjectingl the mixture toja very rapid rectilinear` and helical movement andata speed not less than approximately one hundred feet per second,-y

passing the vapors to a pressure drum Where the mixture is allowed to settle, separating the vaporizable oils from the non-vaporizable oils, and treating the formerto a fractional distillation step while vthe vlatter is returned to the starting point.

.9. The herein described method of treat- `ing oil which consists in forcing oil through a relativelyA small pipe at great speed and exposing the same to a temperature ofapproximately 400 F.,

cent. of superheated steam and subsequently heating said mixture in an expansion drum to approximately l000 F. whereby' the mixture isvaporized, subsequently forcing'said vapors inea helical rectilinear path and at a speed not less than approximately one hundred feet per second, heating the( vapors to a criticaly point at which temperature thence conductedthrough a fractional' distillation step while the non-vaporizable oils are returned for treatment. In testimony whereof I aiix .my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' vIL-LIAM lM. PARKER.

Witnesseszv l Y WATERS, C. E. SANDERS.

cooling and then readding a small per 

